Note: The inspiration for this story came to me while I was watching an old episode of 'Malcolm In The Middle' but it's not really based on that. This is set when Jesse's been at Duel Academy for a while but before they go to the alternate dimensions. There are lots of OCs in this story that are Jesse's family, but you don't need to remember the names of the individuals.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Prologue

Invitation

He knew, the minute his boyfriend entered the room, that something was wrong.

For one, Jesse looked agitated and uncomfortable. Secondly, he was holding an envelope, torn open, in one hand, his fingers closed around the paper too tightly. Also, he was fidgeting, something he just didn't tend to do.

Jaden didn't say anything - letting his partner build up the courage to say whatever he was going to say. He didn't want to push him into telling him anything; Jesse told him everything, sometimes it just took a little while.

Jaden didn't know - didn't want to know - why he knew so much about Jesse, having known him for only a short period of time. He had immediately taken a liking to the bluenette, from the first moment he saw him, and during their first duel, he had fallen in love. Love at first sight.

/

He had never believed in love at first sight. When he'd thought about it, on the rare occasions such a thought had crossed his mind at all, he had considered it to be something that was meant for fairy tales and stories, not something that took place in reality. But his opinion had changed the moment that it had happened to him. He hadn't realised what it was at first - only that Jesse felt the same way.

Jaden told Jesse things that he had never told another, not even Syrus, who was his first and best friend and whom Jaden trusted completely. Soon he began to realise what was happening. He didn't just want to talk to Jesse, duel and hang out and suchlike, the way he did with all his other friends. He hugged his friends all the time, but not the way he hugged Jesse - it was more like a cuddle with him, which was surprising to Jaden, since the only people he'd ever been held by like that were members of his family.

There hadn't been any dramatic confessions or questions of 'being more than friends' between them. It had just happened naturally, like it was meant to. Jaden wasn't a believer in destiny, but had he been, then that's what he'd have called his attraction to Jesse. Fate. Meant to be. It sounded nice, when he thought about he felt for the bluenette.

They had become a couple within two weeks, and it had happened accidentally but naturally. A simple hug after a duel - that Jaden had managed to win after what seemed like a hundred rounds - that had turned into a fall. They had tumbled onto the ground, Jaden somehow landing on top of the other, their noses touching, both laughing hysterically at their fall. And then their laughter had stopped and their eyes had closed, and before they knew what was happened, their lips were locked together.

It had been Jaden's first kiss. Jesse had confirmed that it was his first kiss, as well, which made it so much more special to both of them.

So far, kissing was as far as they had gotten, but their relationship had been going on for only a couple of months. To do anything else would be taking it too fast, no matter how strongly they felt for each other. They were still, technically, getting to know the other properly. Besides, Jesse often spent the night at the Slifer dorm, and once Jaden had woken up in his arms. That had been a good morning for them both. They could wake up together without having done anything the previous night - it had to be a good sign, that neither one was desperate to rush into the relationship, that both were willing to take it slowly.

/

Jaden smiled softly to himself as he looked over at his boyfriend. He and Jesse may not know everything about each other, but they were sure getting close. Jaden was keeping no secrets from the other, not even the weird dreams he'd been having lately, or the way he greatly suspected his best friend's feelings for his own rival. He trusted Jesse completely. They spent every class together - when they didn't skip class anyway. And it wasn't like he'd abandoned his friends - half the time he was being held by Jesse, his friends were averting their eyes to pretend it didn't embarrass them. As if that wasn't half the fun of it.

"You okay, Jess?" Jaden asked, his voice tender but still concerned.

Jesse didn't get into this state, at least not that he'd seen. Sometimes it was hard remembering that he had known Jesse for only two months. It felt like forever.

Jesse sighed and looked up.

Jaden wasn't the only one who sometimes forgot they had been together for only a short period of time. It felt like years to Jesse - wonderful years - that were, in reality, two fantastic months. He had a deck that he loved and a boyfriend he'd die for - what more could any man ask for?

Jesse, sighing heavily once again, passed the envelope in his grip to Jaden. Raising one eyebrow, Jaden pulled from it a crisp piece of paper. The paper was crackly and obviously expensive, and the ink on it was handwritten in neat calligraphy.

The brunette's chocolate eyes scanned the neat writing twice and then looked at Jesse, puzzled.

"So what's the big deal?" he asked, confused.

It was an invitation to a family reunion, of sorts. A birthday party for Jesse's father, to which, the invitation stated, the whole Andersen family had been invited. It was a formal invitation with nothing out of the ordinary. Apparently, it was Jesse's father's fiftieth birthday. He was a lot older than Jaden's own father, but hey, some people started younger than others. A fiftieth birthday party - no wonder it was so fancy an invitation.

Jesse looked at Jaden like he was crazy.

"There's a note with it" he muttered, burying his head in his hands. "I told my mother that I was going out with you in my last call to her."

"You phone home?" Jaden asked, interested, as he pulled the note he hadn't realised was there from the envelope.

"Every couple of weeks. My parents are worriers."

Jaden nodded in understanding, though he couldn't really empathise. His own parents didn't mind him not keeping contact with them so long as he either phoned or came home during the school holidays. They knew he was safe - if something happened, they'd phone him to ensure he was safe.

Jaden read the note, and then he reread it in shock. The note had been folded into sixths and the handwriting on it - different to the writing on the invitation - was tiny. He didn't care about most of the words, but part of the note stood out to him.

And why not bring that boyfriend of yours that you told us about? I'm sure we'd all love to meet him.

Jesse had told his parents that he was dating Jaden. And now Jesse's parents wanted to meet their son's boyfriend. And what better way to meet than at a family reunion?

Jaden gulped. Go to a family birthday party for Jesse's father? He was pretty sure he could get the time off school - he barely went to class, and either Syrus or Alexis would take notes for him if he really needed them - but he wasn't sure about this.

He was a naturally confident person. But even natural confidence can slip up when a lot of conflict enters a person's mind. What if Jesse's family didn't like him? Wouldn't that cause a lot of problems for his relationship with Jesse? He didn't want his boyfriend to be put in an awkward position.

Then again, it could all go fine. Jaden was good at first impressions - at least, in his mind. He was a little loud, so he'd been told, but so what? He was generally a much liked person.

Hey, he might make some new friends in Jesse's family.

Jaden had attended one family gathering of a friend. That had been at Alexis' house back in his first year, to celebrate her brother's return to them. It had been different, though - it was a family gathering, but a handful of Atticus and Alexis' friends had come along, too. It hadn't been Jaden on his own.

This would just be him and Jesse.

/

"We don't have to go" Jesse said for the twentieth time that morning.

"For the hundredth millionth time, it's gonna be fine" Jaden grinned. "Maybe I'll even be able to get my game on!"

Jesse groaned and took both his boyfriend's hands in his own.

"Jaden, listen, you don't understand. My family … they're all weird. They don't like duel monsters and they don't believe in seeing spirits. They never liked me duelling. My aunt used to call me a freak because I could see spirits." He let go of Jaden. "Trust me, you're not gonna like them."

Jaden was frozen momentarily. A family that hated duelling? Instant clash. Duelling was his life. But then again, he wasn't sure he wanted a life without Jesse in it nowadays. Love could do that to a person.

Falling in love. Killing for that person. Dying to be with that person. Stealing a heart.

None of it sounded exactly pleasant. Funny how, to the most wonderful emotion of all, those words that meant bad things were linked.

But Jaden knew better, and his natural optimism let him smile.

"So what?" he shrugged. "I'll just not talk about cards."

"You don't understand these people" Jesse muttered, throwing his bag after Jaden's into the storage compartment of the plane that would take them off the island. "Jaden. You are not going to like them."

Jaden just rolled his eyes and took his seat, folding his arms behind his head. He wondered if he heard the next part of Jesse's rant, said in a whisper so low the sound could have been captured by the breeze, or if he had simply imagined it.

"And they're not gonna like you, either."

Please R&R